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Monday, December 31, 2012

I was commissioned to make a piece for a present to give to my first Fine Art instructor who is a truly inspiring woman named Robbie Lacomb Roach. (you can see her website here) The instructions were to make a piece that reflected me. That seems like an easy thing to do, but it really isn't. The subject matter came to me while I was eating breakfast one day. I'm not entirely sure what inspired me to do this, but I do like how it turned out. I think my favorite aspect of this piece is the slight uneasiness that the viewer gets from the gorilla. I will have to say that this piece does reflect some aspects of who I am while still appealing to the idea of this being Art with a capital "A". It's not just an illustration piece, it has a message. "What's the message?", you ask. Well, that is all up to your interpretation of this piece. What I get out of it is the reminder of nature, but that is only my interpretation. Call it what you want.

This piece was made on a 14 X11" ragboard. I used watercolor and watered inks to make the wash of the gorilla. I also used colored sharpies to get the bold colors of the cat and the tutu. I used sharpie and india ink for the black line work. You can also see this piece in my deviantart gallery.

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, December 28, 2012

One of my presents this year was the ever awesome Snout Spout from the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line! I have to admit, I really like him! I have my complaints about him, but I love his design. Now Snout Spout has a basic male buck from the line. This time, he has all new forearms and boots sculpts. His hands are new as well match his gloves. His loin cloth/tights are made of that very rubbery plastic. I do wish that there was a bit more rigidity to this plastic. I feel that it is too rubbery. The other thing that I have noticed is that his feet do not move too well at the ankle joint to his boots. Some of the sculpt gets in the way. Snout Spout comes with two accessories, an axe and a "jaws of life" claw. I like how the claw has an elephant face sculpted into the design. That is a very nice touch. I do have a bit of a problem with the axe. In the original vintage release of the axe, it had a handle about mid way down for the action figure to hold on to. In some ways, I wish mattel would have added that handle back. My axe continually slides down in ole' Spout's hands. As far as this action figures uniform, he does come with removable armor and backpack and a removable head. Ok, so his head. The trunk is bendable. Over the plastic/rubber that was used to make the truck is a matte grey paint. When you bend the trunk, the paint seems to squish. So far I've not seen any areas where the paint has broken, but this should be a word of warning to make sure that you take heed when you are posing this guy. Even with all of the little quirks that are enough to make me complain about it, overall, I really like this guy. I had a vintage version of him from back in the day, and I kind of wish I still had him. This version is not as overly technological as the 200X version was, but it is a nice update to the vintage. If you like this guy, and I mean, really like him, this version is a nice addition to any Masters of the Universe line.

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Every winter, Nick Slay, codenamed "Santa" goes out to battle the evil doings of Iceman and his penguin henchmen! Armed with a Heat Armament Ray (H.A.R.), "Santa" truly slays the icy grip of death to protect all the nice children of the world!

When I saw that Creatology was putting out a whole series of Christmas based DIY Vinyl action figure kits, I decided that I should try my hand at some holiday goodness! Here is the first in a small line of action figures in my custom toy line named, Slayed. Overall, I am very happy with how this toy came out. His arms unfortunately do not move. They had to be glued into place because of the cracking that had started occurring in his elbow. His head does turn, but is limited due to his beard. His massive weapon does come out of his hands. It is made from various plastic objects pulled together to make a crazy oversized sci-fi weapon. I did get a second DIY Santa action Figure to do another version of Nick "Santa" Slay. I will work hard to make sure that that version of Nick's arms will move. Now, I've got some important updates, so more pictures will be at the end of this posting. Enjoy the pics. I've got to get back to illustrating comic books! :)

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, December 21, 2012

The other day, I found this little gem on a shelf I was straightening up at work. From the look of the box, I just fell in love! I thought, "My God! How cool would that be if I got that and did a review on it?! I could ask Jeff from the podcast, Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff to a video review with me on this toy." I always fail to remember that Jeff doesn't like bugs, and this set glorifies itself on the fact that you can make candy versions of creepy crawlies. But, I digress. The Dr. Dreadful labs toys are made by Umagine which is put out through Spin Master (Spin Master put out the recent Tron Legacy Toys). The toys boast the feature of being able to eat whatever you make in the sets. In other words, this is the naughty food maker to the nice foodmaker, the Easy Bake Oven. Now I only have this one set. There have been other sets that have made me look twice in its direction due to it's looking like absolute coolness! The one set that I would like to add to this is the Organ Grinder. It looks rather impressive. At least the box makes it look impressive.

From what I found with this Bug Lab set is that it is rather easy to use. I had no trouble putting the toy together nor did I have a hard time understanding the directions (unlike the directions to the Ikea furniture). I did notice that when I tried to push the candy gel into the mold, the gel would also push out of the bottom and onto the kitchen counter. I solved this little problem with a little piece of plastic bag set under the candy disc in the candy well. It's not a 100% clean counter approach, but it will get more mix into the mold instead of on the table. All in all, the candy is ok. The grape is way better than the apple mix. The true selling feature of this is being able to watch the candy mix push up into the semi clear mold. it really is fun to watch. I really like the design of this toy set, and initially that is what sold me on getting it. The other was the price. I was able to get this set for a ridiculously low price due to it being on sell. I do wish that the gray plastic was molded in a darker color. And I also wish that the bug molds were in the bluish color like in the package photo, but what can you do. This would be a fun stocking stuffer and/or small gift to give a young boy or any child that enjoys gross things.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

I'm back! And to start off the week for me, I bring you a preview of some upcoming custom toys. As for right now, I might not be publishing entries as much as I have in the past. I've got a couple of projects that I need to finish. So, stick with me here, and I'll be back to a regular posting schedule soon. Now, without any further delay, here are some preview pictures. Enjoy.

There's a lot of really cool customs to finish and post for the future! I hope you will like them all! Stay tuned!

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Friday, I was posting the Hawkman action figure posting when I got a message saying that I was unable to put all three photos on the post due to reaching my data limit with blogger. The photos are a big part of my postings. In order to get more data, I need to buy a package and right now, I have to wait to get paid. I am thinking that I will use this situation as a break to catch up on some work and adjust to my new life schedule before I start posting new art, custom toys and action figures. I should be back to posting in two weeks. I thank you all for following and reading my postings on both this site and the Xenex the Bug Man site. Take care.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, November 23, 2012

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was splendid! To end this Hawkman week, I have...well, Hawkman. Back in the beginning of this last Summer, I was in and out of the hospital due to illness. When I got in from the hospital I was met by one of my best friends, Jeff from the Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff podcast. He had a wonderful gift of The Masters of the Universe vs. DC Classics -Hawkman vs, Stratos 2 pack. I will have to say, this has to be the best MOTU vs. DC 2 pack on the market today! This version of Hawkman is just like the DC classics Hawkman minus the sword and shield. Here is a listing of that Hawkman on Cool Toy Review. I didn't have a Hawkman action figure from the DC classics line so I didn't feel like I was doubling up on the same toy. The Stratos from that 2 pack is also equally awesome! But, I will feature that one on another day.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

I will have to start off by saying that I did not think this custom pony would actually get finished. I had a lot of problems with this guy. In the end, he turned out great, but the road to the end was paved with a lot of redo. Some of the major problems that I faced was with paint coloring on the pants and the wings. For the pants, I used a gloss green for the legs and decided to then paint the red tights and boots onto the green. That was a bad idea. I ended up using several coats to get the red to not show any green from underneath. I definitely know now to not paint that red over that gloss green. Honestly, I should have known. The second problem was with the wings. I originally was just going to do wings that were folded up. After talking to a couple of people, I was convinced to do open wings that match the helmet. I got one open wing sculpted and baked. I then sculpted the second one, baked it and then saw that it did not match the first wing at all. So I sculpted another. Once the wings were done and painted, I then found that the wings didn't actually flush fit to the body anymore. I ended up using glue gun filler to fit the wings. It worked. Again, I honestly didn't think this pony would actually make it to posting, but it did. I would like to say that stubborn perseverance from me is what made this pony come to pass. Never give up! Never Surrender! Now, I've got some important updates, so more pictures will be at the end of this posting. Enjoy the pics. I've got to get back to illustrating comic books! :)

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Monday, November 19, 2012

This week will be a Hawkman kind of week. To start off this week, I have an older sketch card of the winged hero. Hawkman is a DC superhero who was created by Gardener Fox (writer) and Dennis Neville (artist). Several incarnations of Hawkman have appeared in DC Comics, all of them characterized by the use of archaic weaponry and by large, artificial wings, attached to a harness made from the special Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman. When I was a kid, my best friend Stephan gave me his Super Powers Hawkman action figure. My Hawkman didn't have wings, but that did not keep me from flying him around. But anything about this character outside of me having an action figure of Hawkman was completely unknown to me as a kid. In all honestly, I should read more comics with Hawkman in them. There is one story I am looking forward to getting my hands on where Hawkman and Adam Strange, one of my favorite characters, team up to end a war between the Rann's and Thanagar's inhabitants. I've heard that it is just ok, but it has such a heavy hand of science fiction that I can't pass it up. I hope it doesn't disappoint. You can also see this sketch card here in my devianart gallery.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Back in 1996 or so, I managed to muster up enough moneyfrom my after school job to buy this 6" R5-D4 from the Star Wars Action Collection 12" toy line. At that point in my life, anything Star Wars was going to be bought by me as long as I could find the money for it. There were times that I wouldn't buy my school lunch in order to have just enough money to go buy a Star Wars toy. In some ways, it makes no sense, but I was hooked! The Astromechs from this 12" line were sculpted really well. They look fantastic and feature the essential articulation. I've got to tell you, I'm not a big fan of the droid, but I have kept this action figure all of these last sixteen years due to the fact that I really like this toy!

As far as articulation goes on this toy, he has a swivel head (expected), Swivel legs (ok), swivel ankles, a pull out center foot and little teeny tiny rollers on each foot. The fact that this is a astromech droid of some sort, I'm not expecting a load of moving parts. I would have liked to see a "pop-out" motivator part for his head. That way he could have a "bad motivator" as Luke calls it when this droid is on its way to Uncle Owen's moister farm. I could just make a motivator and put it where the antenna is. You know, I honestly don't remember this droid having an antenna in the Star Wars movie.... Now that I have done my research, I now know that the droid has an antenna. You can kind of see it here. Enjoy some pics of my R5-D4 from my personal toy collection.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

About Me

I'm an illustrator, and avid toy collector. I work on two comics currently: Xenex the Bug Man and Unstoppable Force. I love bacon cheeseburgers, burritos and tacos and could literally eat them everyday. When I'm not drawing, I like riding my bike and playing video games with my best friend, Matt.